Delhi gangrape case: Accused pleads not to be sent back to Tihar

New Delhi: One of the accused in the December 16 gangrape on Saturday again pleaded the special court hearing the case not to send him back to Tihar, alleging that he was assaulted by prison security personnel who have threatened to kill him, a charge denied by the jail authorities. Accused Vinay Sharma, who suffered a hand fracture on Friday, requested Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna not to send him to Tihar alleging that jail officials have threatened to kill him by hanging him in his cell on Sunday.

Vinay's advocate AP Singh told the court that his client has been threatened by the jail's security personnel whom he quoted as saying "Today, media and lawyers can save you, but who will save you on Sunday as you have to stay in Tihar only". Sharma was lodged in Tihar Jail along with four other accused following his arrest on December 18 last year. One of the accused Ram Singh was found dead in his cell on March 11 with police claiming that he committed suicide by hanging. The matter is under probe.

Accused Vinay Sharma alleged that jail officials had threatened to kill him by hanging him in his cell on Sunday.

The Superintendent of Jail No 7 in Tihar, Lokesh Chandra, who was directed by the court on Friday to explain as to how Vinay suffered the fracture, refuted the allegations that the accused was attacked in jail and claimed he was injured during a fight with one of the co-accused Akshay Singh in the van while returning to the prison from court.

The prison authorities, in their report, said Vinay and five other undertrials, who are lodged with him in a cell, are kept under 24 hours CCTV surveillance and it was not possible that other inmates had hurt him. The report also said that Vinay made contradictory statements in various hospitals regarding his medical status and this proves that allegations made by him are "false and mischievous".

"In the light of contradictory statements of the patient prisoner (Vinay) in various hospitals, the allegations levelled in the application are totally false, mischievous, unfounded and for ulterior motive," it said. Vinay, who had on Friday come to the court with a fractured hand, had alleged that he was badly beaten up by the inmates.

Vinay on Saturday told the judge that "If you want to kill me, kill me here but don't send me to Tihar in any condition." His counsel contended that last night he was taken out of his cell by the jail's security personnel who beat him up badly and issued death threats. He alleged that Vinay and Akshay were not provided food on Saturday as Vinay had refused to write a letter to the judge saying that he suffered the injury in a fall. The Superintendent, however, dismissed the allegations that the security personnel had assaulted the accused or threatened to kill him.